In restructuring, Division III took a distinct stand on the matter of student-athlete involvement, choosing to place two student-athletes on the Division III Management Council as voting members.

"We believed that student-athletes should be involved, and we were willing to back that philosophy up by making them voting members of the Division III Management Council," said John H. Harvey, athletics director at Carnegie Mellon University.

"We felt that, in principle, if more student-athletes should be involved across the board, that student-athletes had to be represented on the Management Council as well as on the other committees."

Division I has student-athletes sitting on the Management Council as nonvoting members, and Division II has an annual joint meeting of its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Management Council but no positions on the Division II Management Council. Each division also has its own Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Division III student-athletes sit as voting members on nearly every Division III committee and on many Association-wide committees as well. Student-athletes also serve on the Division III Initiatives Task Force.

"Student-athletes have reaped many of the benefits of restructuring," said Kerry Gotham, chair of the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a former member of the Division III Management Council.

"Right from the start, Division III was dedicated to having student-athletes be an active part in the governance structure. I think that's most evident in our role on the Management Council."

That decision was not without its skeptics at first.

"There were those in other divisions who wondered if (student-athletes voting on the Management Council) was a good idea," said Stanley P. Caine, president of Adrian College. "But we were determined that that was part of what we believed in. It was a bold move at the time, but my sense is that it's worked out well."

Gotham said the student-athlete involvement in the Management Council has led to a more active role for student-athletes in the entire governance structure.

"That relationship has really blossomed over the years," Gotham said. "Now, we feel as though we truly are full members of the Management Council. We've also become an integral part of the Convention, and people look to us for our opinion on legislation."

Under the old governance structure, there was one Association-wide SAAC with 31 members, 28 of them student-athletes from all three divisions. Now, the Division III SAAC is composed of 24 members. The SAACs from all three divisions meet annually at the NCAA Convention to share opinions on issues of concern to all student-athletes, and the Division III SAAC meets in person two more times during the year.

"It's important for the three groups to get together and talk about key Association-wide concerns that span across all divisions," Gotham said. "But it's also good that the majority of our time as a committee (the rest of the year) is spent on Division III issues. I think we've had a huge impact, especially on the Division III Initiatives Task Force, for example, and its emphasis on student-athlete welfare. Many of the task force's student-athlete welfare components have come from SAAC ideas and SAAC input."

-- Kay Hawes